ho hum

Well, looks like I've slacked a bit. Sorry for the lack of posting. And no, I don't even have a good reason!
So over the last month... not much has changed. I had my first Mothers Day. I spent it painting the house. Clint and Sadie got me gorgeous flowers, a food processor (to make Sadie's baby food), and a seal and save system or something like that. It's one of those that sucks all the air out and is suppose to keep a steak 'fresh' for something crazy like 5 years. We won't be testing that. It was a good day all in all.
I had kind of a low point a couple weeks ago. Just bummed about being here and not in Des Moines. I still haven't really met any friends, I am not a big fan of my new job, and I feel horrible when I have to wake my sleeping baby up in the morning to drop her off for 13 hours for someone else to take care of. My wonderful husband called my parents and had them come down for the weekend to cheer me up. It helped! They hadn't both been here since she was born and that was just a day trip to the hospital and the last couple times we had been in Des Moines I had spent hardly any time with them. I keep trying to keep my chin up but most days I just decide if I can make it through today that's a good day. Sadie and Clint keep my spirits up. There is nothing better then the love of your husband and child.
Clint's territory has been expanded. He is now in charge of all of Western Missouri. It's good experience for him but it means he is gone more and even busier when he is at home. I long for the day he doesn't have to answer his phone at dinner and can spend the evening just hanging out instead of in the basement working. I keep telling myself it will be worth it. He enjoys his job so that makes it worth it.
So my job. Yep, stinks. I was kind of told I was going to a cardiac floor and I kind of am on a medical floor with telemetry (heart monitoring). We occasionally have cardiac patients but most of the patients I see are old news to me. Definitely not the learning experience I was hoping for. So this means I am counting down the days until I can leave. I have already been applying to Labor & Delivery and Postpartum as the have day shifts open. The chance of transferring to another area is slim to none as we are supposed to be in our current position for 6 months before we can switch. My manager is very unorganized and has made it quite apparent that my being there doesn't matter. She doesn't return emails. I am not set up for access to things I should be. The one time I attempted to discuss my frustrations of my orientation with her she was defensive and made excuses for most everything I had to say. Bottom line. I'm not happy and I will be leaving when I find something else.
The dogs are doing good. They are much happier here then they were in Des Moines but are obviously feeling neglected now that Sadie is here. They are no longer allowed on the furniture and they don't sleep in bed anymore which I think is hard for them. They mind very well though and rarely attempt to get up on anything. They seem to handle having a baby around pretty good. Geordie is much more interested then Payton but Payton is warming up to her.
Sadie is awesome. We had her 4 month appointment today. She is 13lbs 7oz! She had a huge growth spurt in the last 2 weeks. Putting her back on track with other kiddos her age! We had round 2 of shots which went okay. I took her by my self and was so worried but she calmed down pretty quick and I sat in the waiting room and gave her a bottle a rocked her to sleep before we left. She is rolling both ways now and is scooting toward toys. She chews on everything and is a drool machine! We started cereal last week. She still has quite the tongue thrust but gets about 50% of it down. She is sitting with assistance from her boppy pillow and loves her exersaucer! She gets so excited when she gets it to sing to her! We finally put away the rest of the newborn clothes about 2 weeks ago! Oh and I stopped pumping. It became too much of a hassle and was so time consuming. I stopped pumping a couple weeks ago. It became too much of a hassle and was so time consuming. Now I have more time to spend with her. I pumped enough for her to have a bottle a day for a month so that's a bonus. I just love watching her grow and develop. She is definitely the bright spot in my life! I am so thankful for her!

We have been super busy here at the Meek house. Two weekends ago we went to IL to see Clint's grandmother. She was able to hold Sadie for the first time and it was the first time I met her as well. A lot of the family came over and we had a birthday party for her. It was great to start to get to know that side of the family.

Last weekend Clint's parents came down and we worked on the house. Clint and his dad got a bunch of outside work done and Sarah and I painted the living room and kitchen. Greg and Sarah were nice enough to watch Sadie for us on Saturday night and we went out on our first date since Sadie was born! It was great to talk with out cooing in between sentances and eat while my food was still hot!

Last week I worked my first full week of days and let me say I like that I feel like a nurse again. This is the type of nursing I am use to, however; I don't know if I can do it. I feel horrible waking Sadie up from her peaceful sleep to take her to the sitter and I feel even more horrible that I leave her all day when I come home at night and she burries herself in my chest and holds on so tight. I spend maybe an hour to hour and a half with her before I have to go to bed so I can be up at 4am the next morning to do it all over. I am really considering an office job. Yes I know I just started at this place, I wouldn't quit, just switch to prn. And yes, I know I would be bored and get paid so much less but it may be worth it. Especially when Clint is out of town and I do it all myself. That switches my 930pm bedtime to midnightish. Yikes! I don't know if it's worth it though. I am in a horrible funk right now. Just lonely and adjusting to mommyhood. Maybe that's my problem.

Sadie is doing so great though! She turned 3 months on Sunday! She is around 11 pounds now and is starting to smile when she sees us in the morning or after work. She is starting to laugh and pull herself up to sitting if we hold on to her arms. She is amazing and I am so lucky to be her mommy! She got me a food processor for Mothers Day so I can make her baby food. And the seal it storage system so things last longer in the freezer. All for me I'm sure. Clint also got me my favorite flowers... lillies!

Sadie's first baseball game

Jason & Christine came down this weekend and we went to the Royals vs Twins game. The Twins won but it was a great game and we all had a good time. Luckily we were underneath one of the overhangs so we didn't have to deal with the wind or rain! Sadie did awesome and slept through innings 2-8! FYI: We will not be expecting Sadie to become a Royals fan... Go Cubbies!

Can you tell I went back to work?!

I obviously have not had a lot of extra time on my hands. I went back to work 2 days before Sadie was 7 weeks old... 4 weeks ago and have been trying to make the adjustment. I went back to Children's for 3 weeks and then last week switched to Centerpoint. I will be working with adults on the Cardiac floor and will be on days! To make it even better the hospital is only 15 minutes from home and Sadie's daycare is right behind it!

This brings up that Sadie will be starting daycare this week. BIG TEAR! I am trying so hard to be strong about this and realize it had to happen sometime. Inside I am completely torn up and just want to bawl because I don't want to leave her with someone that isn't family. Miss Amber is very nice and we like her but she just isn't mommy or daddy or grandma or anyone else I have let watch her so far. I have the joy of dropping her off tomorrow morning and am worried about being able to pull myself away and walk out the door. I can and I will I just don't want to. I hope Clint can get there early to pick her up.

So Sadie is almost 10 weeks old. WOW! Time is flying by. She is so much more alert. She sleeps through the night some times but usually is still up once. She is great at focusing and following movement. She is working on grasping things as she just bats at her toys a lot right now. She rolled over last week... sure we tucked her arm under for her but she did it! She is just a joy to have in our lives and we thank God for her each and every day. We love being parents!

2 months in her chair:

2 month photos at home:

Resul of her 2 month check up:

6 & 7 weeks

Opps... looks like I have forgotten to post for a couple weeks. So let's play catch up. Clint has been gone the last couple of weeks for work and will be gone again next week. Although it's hard on all of us, I think it's hardest on him. I told him to be glad he was with the other field guys not just out on the road all by himself. Adult socialization... what's that?! He was all packed up before the morning session on the last day and left immediatly to get home. For those of you who know Clint, know this is a BIG deal!

Sadie is growing like a weed. I weighed her with me on our scale here at home last week and she came in between 8 1/2 to 9 lbs. I don't know how accurate the scale is since the number changes each time we get off and on but I'm guessing that's about right by the way she feels. We have her 2 month, yes you read that right, 2 month appointment next Friday so I will know for sure then. She has gotten much longer also. I had to put away a lot of her newborn stuff because she was too long for it. It's perfect around but she can't straighten out her legs so a lot had to go. The 0-3m stuff is HUGE on her so we have very few outfits she can wear out these days. We also started in on size 1 diapers. These also are HUGE! I have to fold them down quite aways but they hold much more and she was getting to the point we had to change her immediately or else there was trouble in the newborn size. She had is starting to smile more consistently. Her first smile was on her 6 weeks 'bday'. She is tracking and focusing well and starting to coo. She is very strong and has great head and neck control. She can turn from side to side and hold it up for long periods now. I love watching her grow and see her meet new milestones but it tugs at my heart a bit at the same time. My little girl is growing so fast! Here is a couple 6 week pictures.

I am getting back to my self. I have started working out and have 7lbs left to get back to where I started... and a whole lot of toning to do. I ordered Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred which arrived yesterday. Here's to hoping I stick with it and it does the trick. I went back to work this weekend. Booo!!! I missed Clint & Sadie so much but made it through with crying only once! I thought that was pretty good. I am getting ready to switch jobs. I will be going back to adult care and working days! After a lot of thought and prayer I decided that adults is where my heart is. Pediatrics is fun but it is too slow paced for me. I will be starting on a telemetry floor at the hospital about 15 minutes from here (30 minutes closer!) on April 19th.

Clint and I have been trying to find a childcare provider for Sadie. We are lucky that right now Clint can take her at night and our moms have/ will come down to help at first. It's nice for them to be able to come spend time with her... and us. We have a few options for who we could use but haven't made a decision yet. I have another lady to interview hopefully tomorrow. She lives directly behind the hospital so I am hoping it works out. It is so hard to find some one that we feel comfortable with. I never thought I would have this much trouble with going back to work. Things really change once they are here though.

We are learning a few new ways to do things to...

How we shop, clean house and go for walks...

How I get ready in the morning if she is awake and do some house work...

She falls fast asleep in this one!

Happy St Patricks Day!

Happy St Patricks Day & 5 weeks!

It's so hard to believe we are already to 5 weeks! That means I have to go back to work at the end of next week. I am excited to get back to work, to add that part of life to our routine. I am super bummed about leaving my little girl though... especially since I don't have a sitter yet. Thank goodness for grandmas who are willing to come stay with Sadie while I work the first couple of weeks!

I can't believe how much Sadie has grown over the last 5 weeks. She is still in newborn clothes and diapers but it is very obvious she is growing quickly. Her hands and feet seem so much bigger and she has some meet on her bones these days... not much but it seems like it compared to when she was born. She continues to be more alert and work on focusing on faces and objects and grasping things. She is a strong lil lady and loves to prove it by holding her head up more and more every day.

We had another big weekend last weekend. Sadie and I made our first road trip by ourselves to Iowa of course. It went well but we missed Daddy and all of his help and snuggles! I am pretty sure Daddy missed his girls quite a bit as well.

My sister, Megan, and Clint's sister, Jen, had a baby shower for Sadie. It was so perfect... a traditional tea with yummy food and extremely yummy cupcakes!!! Some of Clint's family was able to travel from IL/WI to meet Sadie which meant a lot to us. Many of my family members were also able to come as well as some close friends, most of which I worked with previously.

We stayed at Megan & Rob's house and cousin Miley was beside herself with the excitement of baby Sadie being there. She is a big help with Sadie and gives her lots of love. I have a feeling these two are going to get in to a lot of trouble as they grow up!

We had the opportunity to meet Ben this weekend. Ben is the son of my friend Lindsey. He was born 2 days after Sadie but is a little over 2lbs bigger then her. At this age 2lbs seems like 20! We enjoyed seeing them (and everyone that was able to make it to dinner).

I was able to take Sadie to meet my grandparents on my mom's side as well over the weekend. She also met a lot of friends! We skipped FMH & the hospital this time for fear we would never get back out the door but will stop in next time we are in town.

Happy 1 month Sadie!

Wow! Time is sure flying by. Sadie is 1 month old and is growing so quickly. She is right about 7 lbs 4oz I think with how I can weigh her at home. She can wear almost all her newborn clothes and is more alert every day! She is holding up her head and looking around. She turns to sound and can focus on our faces now. It is amazing to me how much they change in such a short amount of time.

Clint & I are truely enjoying being parents. We love seeing her do new things and showing her off to anyone who will give us the time of day! She is such a blessing to us. Yes there are times I hate getting up in the middle of the night and yes it kills me how much we spend on diapers and formula but I wouldn't change anything if it meant I didn't have my baby. I may be a bit biased but she is as perfect as babies come. I just love her so much!

We had the FMH Annual meeting last weekend. We were in Des Moines from Friday to Monday. It was great to see everyone, spend time with friends and family and get to introduce them Sadie but man was it exhausting! We were totally off our schedule... which we are now paying for big time. And I get to go back this weekend for a couple days. I am super excited for the shower and to see everyone but I am not looking forward to being off our schedule and running all over heck like a mad women trying to see everyone and do everything. Clint isn't coming with so I want to try to go up on Friday morning and come back Saturday night. We haven't really had an us weekend since we brought Sadie home so I want to try to get back and spend time together as a family. Clint will have to be gone her in a couple weeks for 3 weeks (home on weekends) and I go back to work at the end of the month so our free time is quickly running out. Man I wish I could have taken 12 weeks. Oh well, gotta provide a college education for this little lady!

Clint shaved his head at the annual meeting along with about 15 other guys. They all did this in support of a 13 year old daughter of one of Clint's co workers who was diagnosed with synovial sarcoma (cancer) last fall. She is undergoing very intense treatment right now. We are praying for her and her family for the best outcome. I don't know her personally but I read her blog and she is such an amazing young lady. She has a good head on her shoulders and a heart of gold. I pray she beats this beast.
FMH employees and family raised over $16,000 for this family in one night. It was amazing to see so many people's generosity and support. Even some of the top guys in the company took part even though they didn't want to shave their heads. It wasn't about them, it was about helping out another 'family' member. I am so proud of FMH employees and families!

I got the first swipe! Charlie (Clint's boss) took a turn to!

After shot

Part of the guys prior to shaving

Part of the guys after the shaving.